Timeline
A timeline compiled of each and every flashback story set in the Once Upon a Time universe, including those of the series' spinoff and other canonical media. It should be noted that some events listed are merely approximated, and may not have officially happened where they are set to have. Timeline 'Before the Curse' }} Mount Olympus is ruled over by Kronos, who favors his more powerful God son, Zeus, who in turn is burdened with an evil and vindictive younger brother by the name of Hades. Hades is very jealous of Zeus and all he has, and his villainous antics grow to the point that he ends up killing their father. He then tries to steal the all-powerful Olympian Crystal - intended for the ruler of Olympus, now Zeus - so that he can use it to rule the world, but Zeus steps in and stops his brother's heart, snapping the crystal in the process. Without a heartbeat and no true love to restore it, Hades cannot repair the crystal and is trapped ruling over the lost souls of the Underworld: a job he despises, especially when the souls complete their unfinished business and become able to ascend Mount Olympus. ("Our Decay"/"Last Rites") A gap of an unknown amount of time, possibly eons. ("Our Decay"/"Last Rites") Two slaves by the names of Merlin and Adda manage to escape their masters, proceeding to spend days running through the desert in search of water. This eventually comes in the form of the Holy Grail, but the magical item disintegrates Adda once deeming him unworthy. Merlin, meanwhile, is able to successfully drink from it, and obtains magical powers in the process. ("Nimue") A gap of five hundred years. ("Nimue") Merlin eventually hires a young boy to be his apprentice, and gifts him with a magic wand the day he is hired. The Apprentice continues working for Merlin, who eventually meets Nimue, a woman whose village had just been burned down. Merlin and Nimue end up falling in love, and Merlin decides he is ready to give up his power in order to grow old with her. The two head out to find the Promethean spark so they can reforge the Holy Grail into a sword that can cut away the Sorcerer's magic, but due to Nimue's own taste for power, and a run-in with the man who destroyed her village, things take a hectic turn. Nimue obtains magic from the Holy Grail and uses it kill Vortigan, and thus the darkness is formed from her soul. The sword, Excalibur, is broken, and while one part of it is put into stone, the other is made into a dagger that can control what Nimue has become: the first Dark One. ("Nimue") Nimue's reign of terror continues, and she eventually obtains the dagger Merlin uses to control her. She goes on to take a tear for a lost love from Merlin, and uses it to transform him into a tree. The following events take place within an approximate range of 200-300 years. ("Nimue") }} Nimue is eventually killed, and numerous other Dark Ones succeed her, but as time goes on, the power grows more as it corrupts the souls the it is passed on to, and due to this, the darkness has the ability to manifest itself as every prior Dark One, whether it be one, or all at the same time. ("The Dark Swan"/"Nimue") Years pass, and more Dark Ones come and go, all of which try to steal the hat guarded by the Apprentice, but still fail. Gorgon the Invincible ends up becoming the Dark One at one point, but his undoing is the result of Zoso, who takes his place. ("The Dark Swan"/"Desperate Souls") Zoso, as the latest Dark One, pays a visit to the Apprentice in hopes of stealing the hat, but after a battle, the Dark One fails, and the Apprentice carries on. The events of "Think Lovely Thoughts" through "And Straight on 'Til Morning" take place within a century. TBA }} Rumplestiltskin is the son of the town coward, Malcolm, and sent to live and work with a set of spinsters. They give him a magic bean, however, that allows him to run away with his father so that they can get a fresh start. Malcolm suggests they use the bean to go to a place called Neverland, but upon arriving, Malcolm realizes that the magic doesn't work for him because he is all grown up. Ultimately, he chooses to abandon Rumple, who is sent back to the spinsters while he turns young again and obtains the alias of "Peter Pan". Pan later quests to Skull Rock where he learns that his eternal youth only lasts until the sand reaches the bottom of the hourglass. Brennan Jones takes his two sons - Liam and Killian - aboard a ship where he sells them into slavery while he goes on the run from the law. Rumplestiltskin grows up, becoming a wool spinner, and marries a woman from his village named Milah. However, their life is changed when Rumple is called to fight in the Ogre Wars. Initially excited to prove himself not a coward like his father, this chances when Rumple learns from a seer that his actions on the battlefield will leave his unborn child fatherless. As such, Rumple injures himself to get out of fight, but when returning home to his wife and newborn son, he sees that Milah is disgusted to be married to such a coward. ----- TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA A gap of about a century or more. TBA TBA A gap of several decades. TBA TBA ("It's Not Easy Being Green"/"Bleeding Through") TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA - Estimate TBA ("The Stable Boy"/"The Queen Is Dead") TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA - Estimate TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA - Estimate ("The Dark Swan"/"The Broken Kingdom") TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA ("Snow Falls"/"The Shepherd") TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA ("Ariel") TBA TBA ("Ariel") TBA - Estimate TBA - Estimate TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA ("Pilot"/"A Land Without Magic") TBA ("A Land Without Magic"/"Lost Girl") TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA ("Lily") TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA ("Pilot"/"The Stranger") TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA 'After the Curse' Regina grows bored of reliving the same day everyday when the Dark Curse is cast, and when Kurt Flynn and his son, Owen, find their way into Storybrooke, Regina grows an attachment to Owen, resulting in a car chase as Kurt tries to flee town. Owen escapes, but Kurt is caught and killed. Owen then vows to find his father. During her time spent in the foster system, a young Emma attends a showing of the Disney film, The Sword in the Stone with the other children she currently resides with. Not allowed popcorn, she steals a chocolate bar from a couple when they're not looking - something than an usher notices. The usher turns out to be none other than the Sorcerer Merlin in disguise, and he warns Emma that one day she will encounter the all-mighty Excalibur, similar to that in the movie she is viewing; he begs that she go far from it, leaving the little girl utterly confused. TBA }} A teenaged Emma, still in the foster system, watches a young girl by the name of Cecilia leave with her new adoptive parents, sad, wanting the same for herself. The group mother assures her that one day the same will happen for her, but Emma is unable to utter a response. Emma ends up running away from the foster home, hopping a bus to Hopkins, Minnesota where she meets a girl by the name of Lily, who has also run away. The two become the best of friends, going on to steal to survive and living together in a nice home owned by a rich family who only use it for half the year. This all comes to an end, however, when Lily's adoptive father tracks them down. Emma feels betrayed, having been led to believe Lily was like her, without a family, but is disgusted to learn she does have one, but is trying to throw it away. Lily begs for forgiveness, and tries making amends, but is turned away. }} Emma is placed in a new foster home, this time with her foster mother being none other than the Enchanted Forest's Snow Queen. Though Emma doesn't wish to stay at first, Ingrid manipulates her into, and the two soon form a friendship, which is all the Snow Queen had ever wanted. Months pass, and Ingrid takes Emma for a day out, where Emma soon learns that Ingrid plans to adopt her. Though happy at first, this all changes when Ingrid believes Emma may be able to do magic now, and she drags her into the middle of the road, nearly getting them both hit. Emma freaks out, believing Ingrid to be crazy, and she runs away, going on to be placed in another foster home. Meanwhile, Ingrid goes to Storybrooke to wait for Emma to arrive 28 years later, and for the meantime she opens an ice cream shop known as Any Given Sundae. Time passes, and Emma finds a new foster family who seem to be a great fit; however, when planning for a camping trip, Emma comes across Lily, who is in need of help. Emma's foster father discovers them though, and so the two claim to have been friends in an old group home. Emma later privately learns from Lily that she was involved in an armed robbery, but agrees to leave Emma's life forever if the blonde goes to her former boyfriend's apartment to retrieve a necklace of hers - the only thing she has that belonged to her birth mother. Emma does this, but upon returning home, she learns Lily stole their vacation fund, and also have learned of how the two really knew each other. Emma runs away, but also confronts Lily, who thought she was doing the right thing so the two of them could go back to their old life together. Emma rejects her though, and the two part way. On a bus later, however, Lily is met with the Sorcerer's Apprentice, who goes to reveal the truth about her past, starting with the origins of her birth mother, Maleficent... ("Lily") }} Emma Swan, now age 17, steals a yellow car, not realizing there's a man sleeping in the backseat. The man ends up waking up, turning out to be Baelfire, who now goes by the alias of Neal Cassidy. A police officer ends up pulling the two over, and Neal lies for Emma, stating that she is his girlfriend and he was teaching her to drive. The officer lets them go with a warning, thus beginning Emma and Neal's relationship. That evening, the two head for an old amusement park where Neal talks a little about his past, though not revealing much, and the two bond. Emma and Neal travel the country, stealing together in order to survive. They finally decide to settle down in Tallahassee, however, but they discover Neal is wanted for stealing a set of expensive watches. Emma agrees to help her boyfriend retrieve them while he runs to find someone to sell them to, but he is soon cornered by Pinocchio, who has taken the alias of August W. Booth, who insists Neal must let Emma go so she may fulfill her destiny. To show Neal he's serious, August shows him a typewriter with the printed words, "I know you're Baelfire." Neal agrees to disappear from Emma's life, which means allowing her to be arrested for stealing the watches. Emma is sentenced to jail in Phoenix, Arizona for her crime, where she soon realizes she's pregnant with Neal's child. ("Tallahassee"/"Manhattan") Emma gives birth to a baby boy in jail, who she chooses to give up for adoption. ("The Heart of the Truest Believer"/"Going Home") }} Regina finally starts to feel that void in her heart that Rumple warned her about before the curse hit, so she goes to him for help with adopting a child, which he procures for her: the future Henry Mills. Regina gets Henry from the agency at three weeks old, and names him after her deceased father. However, when unable to get him to stop crying, Regina worries something may be wrong, so she has Sidney find information on his birth parents. Once learning that his biological mother is the Savior, Emma Swan, she tries to return Henry, but ends up going back on that, as she now believes he is the only one who believes in her, so in order to put her mind at rest, she drinks a potion to forgot Emma is the Savior. TBA One day, when Snow White, who now goes by the name Mary Margaret Blanchard, and is Henry's teacher, sees the boy looking down, she gives him a storybook she found in the back of her closet in hopes of cheering him up. Because of this, his entire perspective of the town's residents is changed, and he starts to piece together the events that occurred 28 years before. Season 1 }} 28 years since the Dark Curse was cast, time finally starts to move forward again when Emma arrives in Storybrooke, Maine, but because of this, August starts turning back into wood since he hasn't been keeping his word to the Blue Fairy: to remain selfless, brave, and true. He travels to Hong Kong to see a healer known as the Dragon, who agrees to give him a potion in exchange for a large amount of cash. August steals the cash from another one of the Dragon's clients, Tamara, but Tamara regains it when August loses it, and then kills the Dragon when it's revealed she is really a magic seeker, and has made all the use of him that she could. Tamara goes on to fake a run in with Neal Cassidy, starting a romance between the two, though in reality just for Tamara to get close to magic. Now in Storybrooke and working on a relationship with her son, Emma stops by local ice cream shop, Any Given Sundae, where she runs into her former foster mother, Ingrid. She believes Ingrid to have been stalking her, and finds it odd she hasn't aged a day; she goes to call Sheriff Graham, but the Snow Queen erases any memories Emma has of the two of them before she can do so. TBA Mr. Gold makes a deal with Regina that if she help clear up the charges against him regarding Moe French's assault then he will help her abduct David's wife, Kathryn, and pin the blame to Mary Margaret, thus tearing the couple apart, and granting Regina her victory. Season 2/''Once Upon a Time in Wonderland'' TBA Andrew Chambliss tweet. Season 3 After Mary Margaret, Emma, Regina, David, Hook, and Rumple leave for Neverland to rescue Henry, Belle is left in Storybrooke where she is instructed to cast a spell that will shield Storybrooke from the rest of the world, and so no one else working for Greg and Tamara's cause can get in. She does just that, but before the barrier can cover up entirely, John and Michael Darling are able to get into town. }} 'Before the Second Curse' }} Upon returning to the Enchanted Forest in order to escape Peter Pan's curse, the former residents of Storybrooke are directed towards Queen Regina's Dark Palace, but they soon discover the Wicked Witch of the West has taken up residence there, and that they are all now in danger. Regina decides to infiltrate the Dark Palace and get rid of the Wicked Witch, but is joined by an uninvited Robin Hood to do so. As they make their way through the Palace, they share bits of their past, and Robin even suspects Regina of being a danger to them all when she begins working on a curse. However, this is revealed to be a sleeping curse, which Regina plans to use on herself in order to escape the pain of losing Henry. Zelena, the Wicked Witch, doesn't allow this though, for the two meet, and after the Queen learns the two are sisters, and the threat the Witch imposes, she decides to stop at nothing to destroy her. Belle and Neal leave the main group in order to search for a way to resurrect Rumple, which leads the two to the Dark Castle, where they light a candle that happens to be none of than Lumière. He leads the two on a journey to the Vault of the Dark One where Neal ends up sacrificing himself in order to bring back Rumple, which ultimately backfires when Zelena is revealed to have been behind Lumière. In order to save Neal, a now resurrected Rumple absorbs him, while the Wicked Witch obtains the Dark One's dagger. Meanwhile, Belle escapes with the help of the candle so she may warn everyone else. }} Following a bad dream about Emma, Charming learns from Snow that the couple is pregnant with a second child; though, he claims to be thrilled, he is secretly filled with dread and fear. Snow and Charming, along with Regina, meet with Aurora and Phillip about announcing their pregnancy to the kingdom. The Queen is against this though, for it could be dangerous with the Wicked Witch posing a threat. Belle soon arrives back to the Palace, revealing Rumple's resurrection and the loss of Neal. Meanwhile, Aurora and Phillip confess to being double agents for Zelena, just as said Witch arrives and turns the two royals into flying monkeys for betraying her. The others fail to fight back, for Zelena freezes them all so she may check on Snow, whose baby she is after. Fearing he will fail to be a good parent for his unborn child, Charming heads for Sherwood Forest in search of night root, a plant that can cure his terrors. However, before ingesting said plant, he hears the call of a damsel in distress, locked up in a tower near by. Charming climbs up the tower, via the damsel's hair, and is met by a princess Rapunzel. Charming learns her tale, and also the effects of eating night-root, which Rapunzel had done, thus leading to her imprisonment. However, with the Prince's help, Rapunzel is able to conquer her fears and break free from the tower, finally reuniting with her family, and Charming regains confidence in being a good parent. }} Though unable to find the Jolly Roger since returning to the Enchanted Forest, Hook and some of his old crew return to their old pirating lifestyle, but instead rob carriages instead of ships. One night though, Hook is met by Ariel, who believes him to have kidnapped Prince Eric, since the pirates who kidnapped her beloved were from the Jolly Roger. Learning this, Hook demands more information, and eventually tracks his ship down to the pirate Black Beard. They soon duel, and Hook wins, but upon learning that it was all a rescue mission, Black Beard mocks the fellow pirate. Not wanting to be seen as weak, however, Hook throws Black Beard overboard, leaving his fate unknown. However, it turns out Ariel rescued him and got the location of Eric, leading to a joyous reunion. ("Fall"/"Poor Unfortunate Soul") }} A royal council meeting is held about how to defeat Zelena, and soon everyone heads for the Dark Castle to seek out Rumple's assistance. Belle manages to get through to him, learning that only light magic can defeat the Wicked Witch, and that they must find Glinda of Oz, who was banished to the Dark Forest. Snow, Charming, and Regina do just that, and the former two make their way into the Witch's pocket dimension, and learn from Glinda that a savior is needed. Everyone realizes that this means they must get back to Emma, and so Charming agrees to sacrifice himself, being the thing Snow loves most, so she may cast the Dark Curse to get back to the Land Without Magic. Snow reluctantly does so, but Zelena arrives in time to add a forgetting potion so no one remembers anything from the past year. However, Snow has Regina break her heart into two so she may resurrect Charming, and the curse continues to be cast. Meanwhile though, Neal breaks free from Rumple so he can send a message to Hook to get Emma to Storybrooke. Upon receiving the message, Hook outraces the curse and trades his ship to Black Beard for a magic bean, which he uses to get to New York City. }} 'After the Second Curse' }} After Robin Hood and the supposed Marian leave Storybrooke, they take up residency in Neal's old apartment, but their lives are interrupted by the arrival of Rumplestiltskin, who has recently been banished from Storybrooke by Belle. He tries to force them out of the apartment so he may take it for himself, but he soon suffers a heart attack due to all the darkness that has consumed his heart. He makes a deal with Robin that if the thief steals him a bottle of the Elixir of the Wounded Heart from Walsh's old furniture shop, Wizard of Oak, then he will let Robin and his family keep the apartment. Robin does just that, but when Rumple goes to drink the potion, he realizes it's a fake. Marian soon makes herself known, revealing to have swapped the bottles, and admits that she was in fact Zelena in disguise the entire time. She makes a deal with Rumple that if he stop trying to kill her and have the Author give her a happy ending then she'll hand over the elixir, which he agrees to. Rumple goes on to join forces with the Queens of Darkness while Zelena keeps up the ruse of posing as Marian, agreeing to work as leverage with Rumple over Regina. Season 5 }} 'Before the Third Curse' }} Arthur introduces the Storybrooke folk to Queen Guinevere before announcing that there is to be a ball thrown in their honor. They are taken to see Merlin, who they see is a tree, and Regina pretends to be the savior prophesied to save him. At the ball though, Percival attacks her, knowing her to be the former Evil Queen, and David kills him in self-defense. Robin is gravely injured and Emma uses her dark magic to save him, setting her on a dangerous path. To communicate with Merlin, the heroes need something called the Crimson Crown, which David quests with Arthur to retrieve. David risks his life to get it, but Arthur steals it, making it look like it got lost. David is knighted into the Round Table while Lancelot returns, revealing to have actually bested Cora years before, and warns Mary Margaret that Arthur is evil. Emma is hassled by the voice of Rumplestiltskin in her head but Hook manages to help her drive him out. Mary Margaret and David argue over who's the real liar, Arthur or Lancelot, and decide to pull off a ruse that exposes Arthur for who he really is. However, Guinevere uses the Sands of Avalon to control them. }} Emma stops her spellbound parents when they grow aggressive towards Regina. She has been whittling dreamcatchers and used one to discover how Merlin became a tree - via a tear shed for a lost first love - and so replays the memory of Daniel dying to Regina to get a similar tear. It doesn't work, and we learn that Emma set things up so that Henry's crush, Violet, would reject him, by taking the girl's heart. Henry's tear is harvested instead and Merlin is freed, but now war has been wagered against Arthur. Merlin frees all Arthur's prisoners and finds Merida, who kidnaps Belle so that she can accompany her on her journey to rescuing her brothers. Belle manages to get through to Merida and provide her with what she needs to save the day, and so her brothers are rescued and she wins her kingdom's respect. While Emma and Merlin journey to find the Promethean spark, which includes Emma facing the original Dark One, Nimue, the heroes use Zelena in order to infiltrate Arthur's castle in order to steal Excalibur. The Wicked Witch betrays them all, however, and helps Arthur use the sword and tether it to Merlin. ("Nimue") }} From there, they're able to summon the Sorcerer, and have him transport the heroes to the Caledonian Forest, tied to trees. ("Nimue"/"Birth") Emma returns to the diner alone where she finds Henry, but the two are soon met by an enslaved Merlin, who under Arthur's orders, requests that the Savior turn over the dagger and the spark to the King and Zelena. She meets them in the woods, but tricks them and is able to save her family, sending the villains running. Arthur and Zelena retreat the castle where they then plot to obtain a magical item from DunBroch. Meanwhile, Emma now has everything needed to cut the darkness away from her, but the process is interrupted by a dying Hook, who was earlier cut by Arthur with Excalibur. Refusing to let him die, Emma ends up transporting both of them to a middlemist field where she tethers him to Excalibur, stripping Merlin of his magic and making the Pirate into a second Dark One. From there, Emma's downfall into darkness is complete, and the Dark Swan is born. Hook then rises from the Vault of the Dark One, and is greeted by the darkness manifestation of Rumplestiltskin. ("Birth"/"Broken Heart") }} Meanwhile in DunBroch, Merida, accompanied by Mulan and Red Riding Hood, clash against Arthur and Zelena when in search of the enchanted helm. The three heroes win, sending the villains on their way back to Camelot, but Merida refuses to give the helm to the Witch, not wanting anyone to have such power. This makes her pass the Witch's test, and she is gifted with magic ale to say a proper farewell to her father. While Merida swears to avenge his death, Mulan and Red, who have formed a friendship, set out together. Emma finds Hook back in the Enchanted Forest, and after several fights, Emma comes to realize Hook has fully given into the darkness, for he uses Nimue to crush Merlin's heart and use it to enact a new Dark Curse. Emma is able to intervene though, knocking out Hook and using her dreamcatchers to wipe his memories and those of everyone who is engulfed by the curse, of the last six weeks. Spreading from the diner, the curse makes its ways to Camelot where Arthur and Guinevere watch it sweep up them and the rest of the kingdom, as well as Merida, who has just arrived to avenge her father. Lancelot, however, isn't caught, for he was far enough away and with his mother, the Lady of the Lake. }} 'After the Third Curse' Trivia *It is said in "The Bear and the Bow" that Merlin was trapped as a tree for millennia, but in "Nimue" it is made clear that he was trapped 500 years ago from the present. *The caption in the episode "Nimue" which read "200 Years Earlier" was in fact meant to say "500 Years Earlier", as was confirmed by Adam Horowitz via his Twitter account.Adam Horowitz tweet.. *Though it's said in "Heroes and Villains" that Rumplestiltskin obtains his magic gauntlet during a trip to Camelot, it's later shown in "The Broken Kingdom" that it was in fact Queen Guinevere who gave him the gauntlet at the Vault of the Dark One, in exchange for the Sand of Avalon. References Category:Miscellaneous